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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

2.3.6.1. George Muat (1893-1981)

George Muat was born on 10 July 1893 at 24 Lockhart in Motherwell, Scotland, to John and Ann (Philip) Muat. His father was a journeyman pastry baker. By 1901 the family had moved to 54 Orbiston Street in Motherwell and by 1911 they were living at 6 Airbles Street in Motherwell. George was 18 years old and worked as a pastry baker like his father.

On 8 October 1918 George Muat married Jane Laidlaw Riddell, who went by Jeanie, at the Abbotsford Parish Church in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. he was 25 years old and worked as a cook in the merchant service aboard the S/S Emperor, a freighter built in 1916. The couple had two known sons.

S/S Emperor, photograph courtesy of Wreck Site

On 21 May 1927 George returned to Scotland from Montreal, Canada aboard the S/S Metagama. He had last permanently resided in Canada but intended to settle at 13 Lathom Road in Strathaven, Scotland. Two years later the entire family immigrated to Canada, leaving Greenock aboard the S/S Andania on 20 July and arriving in Montreal on 29 July 1929. They were headed to a friend of George's who lived in Toronto.

Five years later George's wife died of tuberculosis. George and his two sons crossed into the United States at Niagara Falls, New York on 9 January 1934. They were headed to New York City to board a ship in order to return to Scotland. They sailed at noon on 13 January aboard the S/S Tuscania and arrived in Glasgow on 22 January. Their destination was George's father-in-law, Francis Riddell, who lived in Hamilton.

Books about Allied Families

The story of the James Wilson family of Topsham, Maine, who came to the United States in 1719 and over 20,000 of his descendants, living and dead, including Martha Brodie, great granddaughter of Robert Muir.